Cost of getting started - then and now.

[Char-Gar]

Many threads appear where new folks ask counsel on what they need to get into reloading and I watch the answers flood in and the equipment list get longer and longer. That causes me to reflect on the cost of getting started in hand loading in the 50's and today.

Many of the loading gadgets that folks today deem essential did not exist when I got started. We had no tumblers, media separators, digital scales, etc, etc, etc, etc. Getting started required much less equipment and even factoring in inflation was within easy reach of most folks.

I started with a Pacific Super C press, a shell holder, a set of Pacific dies, a Redding beam scale, and a Lyman 55 powder measure. A trip to the local office supply store, produced a large un-inked stamp pad to lubricate cases. A little bottle of CH case lube and an old typewriter ribbon tin half filled with graphite and I was good to do. Of course there was also powder, primers and bullets.

Later, I needed to trim some cases, so a Wilson trimmer was purchased and I still use it today. I also found the Lyman measure to difficult to set, using the vernier scale, so I bought a Hollywood micrometer measure, which I also still use today.

We didn't worry about shiny cases, so we just wiped off the old cases. If we needed a case length gauge, we filed one out of brass. Old coffee cans and cigar boxes were pressed into service for hold stuff.

Such primitive equipment took me to Camp Perry on several occasion and taught me how to wring every last smidgen of accuracy out of a rifle.

Over the last half century, I have managed to accumulate much more equipment. But, the basic stuff is all that is really required.

Last year, just for the fun of it, I bought the basic stuff on Ebay

Pacific Super C Press - $25.00
Shellholder - $4.00
Redding beam scale - $11.00
Pacific Dies - $13.00
Hollywood powder measure - $30.00

That is $83.00. I bolted the Pacific press to my bench, put the Hollywood measure up as a spare should my original ever wear out (not likely). Put the shell holder in my box of the same, and gave the dies away to a guy at the club.

So that is the way it was, then and now. Oh yes. the year was 57 or 58 when I bought that Pacific press and other stuff, but I disremember the exact year.

[1bluehorse]

I bought a Pacific "kit" in 76' that was the Multi Power press, pistol powder measure, with one bushing, durachrome dies (38sp) optional primer feed, case lube pad, spent primer catcher, case lube, shell holder, and a primer turning plate. I already had the scale. (herters) I still have and use all these items (with original boxes with prices still attached) except the herters scale. The price was right at 76.00. Actually I don't use the 38 dies anymore either as they're not carbide and I don't have a 38spl. Dies are still like new.. I need to get some more of the powder bushings,( now over 4bucks each) 3gr. bullseye doesn't do me much good anymore...Like you I have acquired a lot of different equipment over the years, but most has just made the job of reloading easier not necessarily better...good to see someone else has kept and still uses their "older" equipment. I'm thinking of contacting Hornady to see if they can rebuild my Multi Power as it's getting a little loose in the upper toggles..of the other single stage presses I've owned of all colors, (4) the Multi power is the one I still have..

[casterofboolits]

I and two friends decided to load for our 30-06's around 1968. We purchased an RCBS Jr press with dies and shell holder, Lyman manual and some RCBS case lube. Out the door plus tax was $47.00. a couple weeks later (had to save up) we bought a RCBS scale, a pound of 4350 and 200 Serria 150 grain softpoint condums. IIRC it was about $18.00. Made a couple loading trays out of scrap 2x6 ends.

So, we were in business for $65.00! I still have every thing we started with.

[Bello]

musta been nice im 2 x dillon 650's and 1 x dillon 550 in with 1 x lee single stage and many other odds and ends ya im in the 3k range so far

[gcollins]

Howdy Fella's,
I don't think it cost anymore today to get started in reloading than it did when I started in 1973. I think people today allways over think everything!! For less than $100.00 you can get everything in a kit from Lee. Now when it comes to bells and whistles that's where you pay! The new guy that only loads Hand Gun ammo realy hasn't have the fun most of us did and still do, lubing every case messing nasty stuff, when they came out with carbide dies I thought that was neater than when the Color TV came out! How about the cost of casting your own bullets
I my self can't stand the Lee moulds that you use the allox lube and don't have to resize!! If you think long and hard about the labor and time a person puts in to making your own bullets it almost as cheap to buy them. I have 3 sets of scales (WHY) found them, they were a bargin, and bought them!! i am still using the scale that I got when I first started, and that is a OLD Herters, why do I still use it, because it is a lot more accurate than my RCBS 10-10.
So the Big Picture is, you can buy the Basic kit as cheap as you could back then.
Later
Cag

[Pressman]

I started out in 1967 as a 17 year old kid with a new Super Blackhawk. Quickly realized that I needed to reload to keep it fed. Limited budget so I bought a Lyman 310 tool with dies, Lyman 55 powder measure, Lyman scale, RCBS lube pad and Texan funnel' all from a locksmith/gunsmith in Ames.
I really wanted a Lyman All American press, it just looked so cool in the ads. Upgraded to a Tru Line Jr a year later. By then I had added three more calibers and dies so I figured I had too much invested in dies to fork out the added $$$ for the All American.
I still have all the original tools today, the guns are long gone.

Ken

[noylj]

Since I was never into rifles that much, I was happy with a small RCBS press, RCBS beam-balance, and a powder trickler. Never worried about shiny brass until I started to really get into reloading and my wrist would start to hurt after wiping off a couple hundred cases while sizing. Got a Thumler Tumbler and a Forster Co-Ax and an RCBS powder measure. Then, someone (Hornady) finally came out with an affordable 5-station progressive. I thought I needed a bigger tumbler, so got the BIG Dillon vibratory cleaner.
Learned quickly that I preferred my Thumler's.
Still don't have all the doodads that some think are required and my brass is still not the shiniest,
A few years ago, I "discovered" the Dillon 1050. This press really impressed me (as I considered all the other Dillon's to be very poor substitutes for my Hornady L-N-L), and I now have 3 1050s and my son has my L-N-L.
One thing I appreciated was that as Hornady improved their AP, I was able to upgrade mine for a reasonable amount of money for something like 20+ years.
I still have my Forster Co-Ax for the occasional rifle round.
I keep telling people to start off small and grow as they learn whether they even like reloading. Instead, they want a Dillon 650 because their friends tell them it is the only press to own.
I find the little Lee press that comes with the Lee load book to be more than adequate for starting off. I have two I use for miscellaneous jobs and they can size a .30-06 case just fine (they just don't have any grace to them).

[Cowboy T]

It's still inexpensive to get started in reloading. I haven't been doing it nearly as long as several of you, so my financial perspective is an early 21st Century one. Here's my list, all brand new gear.

1.) Press. A good one for most cartridges short of H&H Magnum length can be had for $28 from Lee through MidwayUSA.

2.) Dies. A good carbide 3-die set is $28. Steel rifle dies are about that, too.

3.) Case lube (if using non-carbide dies). $5.00 for a small bottle. Cheap and effective, I tell ya.

4.) Towel to wipe cases clean with: $2.00 at Wal-Mart.

5.) Decent scale: OK, that's going to cost a bit. I'd say $60 to $70.

Seat to crimp groove, or use an existing, known-good, round for comparison if no crimp groove.

Done. Now, what's the total cost?

$28 + $5 + $2 + $70. That's $105. Not bad for all brand-new gear.

Now, I do believe that a set of decent calipers and a tumbler are a good idea and help out. The tumbler makes things much more convenient (fortunately, a good one's only $50). Cleaning medium, walnut or corn cob, is what, $5 at PetSMart or Wal-Mart? A $3 lettuce strainer is quite sufficient for sifting the cleaning medium out. The calipers (about $30) are good for when you're first developing your load and need to set your bullet seating die.

Total now comes to $105 + $50 + $5 + $3 + $30. That's $188.

So, you can start for $105. You can get slightly fancy for $188. I'd say that's still pretty low.

[Dennis Eugene]

Yep, under 2 hunnert bucks ain't real bad. Just go price 5 boxes of ammo. Dennis

[c3d4b2]

Due to inflation (the 1950's dollar is worth more than 2009 dollars) the 1950's $83.00 converts to

$83.00 in 1950 is $731.66 in 2009
$83.00 in 1955 is $657.58 in 2009
$83.00 in 1959 is $604.08 in 2009

Conversion was from http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

I checked a couple of other sites and they had similar results

[jaguarxk120]

I looked up the price of my Hollywood Universal turret press, in 1959 the Gun Digest showed it listing for $249.25, in todays dollars it would cost $1812!!!

A powder measure was $29.95 (1959) today $217.98. I think that we get more for our money today, more than ever, as the tooling is better and newer products are out there.

By the way I paid $300 for my Hollywood a year ago, I guess you could say I saved about $1500.

[curiousgeorge]

Started reloading for my Ruger Security Six in 1978. A man I worked with sold me a set of Lyman .38/.357 310 dies with tong tool and a Lyman powder scale for $20.00. The local Western Auto store sold powder, primers, and bullets including cast. IIRC a pound of Unique was around $8.00, primers were .85/ 100, and a box / 100 158 gr LSWC were around $2.50. Spent many an hour trickling Unique into the pan on the powder scale and pouring from the pan into the case. Over the next year I bought a used Herter's press for $10.00, a plastic powder funnel for $.99, an MTM case tray for $1.99, a set of Lyman Carbide dies for $25.00, and an RCBS Uniflow for $45.00. I traded out with a man that had a 4 cavity Lyman 358429 mold. I molded both his & my bullets and sized on his old 450 sizer. Would cast and size 2000 bullets for him and 500 for me. Man, I thought I was in Heaven.

Still have every little piece I started with except for the Herter's press. I sold the handle to another member here last Spring to put his old press back into working order.

I haven't thought about this stuff in years. Good memories. Good thread.

Steve

[WILCO]

I started reloading back in 1995 with the LEE Anniversary kit and a set of dies for under $100.00..........

[1Shirt]

Started with a used set on Lyman 310, in 222, that I bought for 18.00, and a Webster scale that was also used for 12.00. Still have them, and they server well for the little 340 Sav rifle.
1Shirt!

[jmsj]

In 1983 I bought my friends complete set up for $100.00. He had been reloading for years but was moving overseas and could not take everything w/ him. I still use a lot of that stuff today.

[1hole]

Last year I did a search of dollar inflation effects on various reloading things I had bought in '65, when I started. Fact is, in terms of real cost - that is, hours worked to make a purchase - most things are significantly less expensive today than they were then. (But not postage stamps, that's government work and with them the unit cost of doing things goes up with increased volume rather than down as it does in private industry.)

The major advances in reloading since the 60s is in measurement tools. Few of us had micrometers, even fewer had precision calipers. Not available at any price were such things as concentricity gages, case shoulder length measurement tools or bullet comparitors.

Most presses still had single toggle lever systems. Case trimming was usually done with file trim dies and we had no idea what the specific trim length was (the dies are still a very good but rarely seen option today). Case neck reamers were available but few of us had them and we had no way to outside turn necks. We sure didn't know what our "bullet tension" was.

[Wayne Smith]

I started loading in '71 with two Lee Loaders, one in 30-30 and one in 16ga. Scooped powder and shot. Things have gotten a lot more complicated since!

[starmac]

I started around 75 with a 300 savage lee loader. If I remember right it was around 10 or 12 bucks. I got into it strictly to save money, and it worked. lol

I have been gathering up stuff to get back into it for over a year now , and like said above it is going to be way more complicated, I have probably paid more just for manuals than I did back then for loader and components. lol

I suppose that old lee loader was slow, but I can't remember any animal ever complaining.

[Tazman1602]

With a Ruger Redhawk .44 Mag, some spare brass, some Red dot, a Lee 240gr SWC TL mold, and a little Lee hand press which I've still got and use, I started in the early 80's for well under $75 bucks. Still have the mold and use it too!

I reloaded thousands of .44 Mags with that handpress. Don't know why I didn't kill myself at the time as I drank a LOT of Jack Black at the kitchen table while reloading.

OH! For powder I used the Lee dippers which I still also have and use occasionally.

You can still get started in reloading for under $100 if you want to work at it a bit for one caliber..................

..........but LOOK OUT, it's going to snowball from there!

Art

[Geraldo]

When I wanted to start reloading in 1987-88, I looked at the cost of RCBS Rockchucker kits in catalogs. I also asked my local gun shop, and owner told me he'd make me up a kit with everything I would need, including whichever manual I wanted, dies, a pound of powder, some primers, and bullets. He also said I could come in after closing to pick it up and he'd show me how to set it all up. IIRC I paid about $200 or maybe a shade more than that for teh Rockchucker and everything else.

Running the inflation tool posted above, I used $240 as a figure, that's about $430 today. Interestingly, Cabelas has an RCBS kit for $269 which doesn't have everything I got back in the day, but that's not too bad inflation-wise.